8 minutes ago, Bates Mate said:

He's lost his skills space jam style. Mongrel kicks and touched off the boot multiple times. May not much better

I thought May's game was rather pedestrian - thank heavens for other backmen.

Not sure you can complain. Tough, taxing game. Cream rose to the top in the end.

Will be remembered as the Kozzie game. Tommo, Hibbo, Sparrow, Tracc and Viney all good.

Worried about Bedford. Needs to do more. Jackson and Gawn are way off.

15 minutes ago, Antioch said:

BT always barracks against the Demons. Worst commentator ever.

Failure: I mean Taylor. Barracks for himself. 

12 minutes ago, one_demon said:

Taxing game and a five day break to the Bulldogs

Yeah, wonderful job by headquarters. The Dogs get 2 full days extra break, and we have to travel back from Alice. Ridiculous.

Brown starting to hit a few straps.Early days but some signs

9 minutes ago, 3183 Dee said:

I guess we won away from home against one of the in-form teams of the comp (they are only outside the 8 because they lost the first 5), without Oliver and continued forward line problems. Put it in the bank and move on.

 Well said Dee. I agree all the way. A lot of posters don't appreciate that all AFL teams can pose a problem. Ask the teams that played North Melb in the last two weeks. We are on a par with this time last year and with a better percentage.

Obviously things to improve on, but watching Kozzie’s game was well worth the price of admission. 
 

Gameday thread, embarrassing to witness as ever. 

Gawn and Jackson were poor, Bedford out next week. I’d drop Melksham and Sparrow.

Phew. 

THANK YOU, KOZZIE!

Not a convincing win, but it's a win, and the alternative of being on the same wins as the Pies truly terrified me.

Going to be a tough run home, but the only way we'll make it to the business end is if we win (at least) most of the games ahead.

Now is the time to do it!

10 minutes ago, wizardinoz said:

Hard to drop Tommo after that performance. Was better than May.

May went leftie, again. Time and again. Two teams with two-thirds of the onfield roster lined up waiting for May to deliver the ball - and how few marks, clearances and/or forward progressions were made.

When we were  a crap team it never occurred to me that our supporter trauma would be most on display after we'd become successful. 

 

1 hour ago, 3183 Dee said:

I guess we won away from home against one of the in-form teams of the comp (they are only outside the 8 because they lost the first 5), without Oliver and continued forward line problems. Put it in the bank and move on.

Tricontinental or barings?

Edited July 17, 20222 yr by Queanbeyan Demon
Typo

Still very fumbly and making some bad decisions with the ball.

Have we got nobody that can step into Oliver’s role?  We got smashed in the middle and are coming up against the best clearance team in the comp. 
 

You bank the 4 pts and applaud Kozzie but there was nothing in that performance that says we are exiting the form rut. 

 

Edited July 17, 20222 yr by CYB

Good teams win when they are well below their best. That was us today!  Hopefully it’s a step towards our best.

1 minute ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Tricontinental or bearings?

Think you mean Barings.

Bloody love watching Kozzie play. Brilliant performance with goal of the year contenders! He got the job done for us today when lots of his mates showed a lack of skill. 

Just now, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Tricontinental or bearings?

Ha! Deffo not bitcoin!

Round 19 (next week) is where we’re supposed to hit our straps….but that sort of talk is dealing in Futures 

So long as we keep playing teams outside the top eight we should be fine.

I am actually really happy with the win. Port were very, very good through the middle of the ground but we came out on top. A lot of frustrations, but we won. And we have Oliver, Petty and maybe TMac to come back.

Our best was very very good but only about 15%of the game time. 

Our defensive unit was epic today, covering a multitude of up-the-ground errors.

Kozzie.

Our midfield was well beaten. Stoppage work, defensive spread, poise with ball in hand, decision making, decision making.

Biggest issue is the gap between our best and worst - far too bug and we can swing from one to the other within  a single play.

19 minutes ago, Ned said:

We’re the worst 13-4 team! But a win is a win.

We were last year too, until we weren’t.

5 minutes ago, AmDamDemon said:

When we were  a crap team it never occurred to me that our supporter trauma would be most on display after we'd become successful. 

 

Expectation is brutal

5 minutes ago, CYB said:

Still very fumbly and making some bad decisions with the ball.

Have we got nobody that can step into Oliver’s role?  We got smashed in the middle and are coming up against the best clearance team in the comp. 
 

You bank the 4 pts and applaud Kozzie but there was nothing in that performance that says we are exiting the form rut. 

 

Very few people in history can step into Oliver’s role 

21 minutes ago, Ned said:

We’re the worst 13-4 team! But a win is a win.

Geelong aren't as good as us. Our best beats them easy - see 2021 PF

It's almost as if some Melbourne supporters have watched other very good teams over the years and react with 'Gee, the always find a way to win in a tough match, that's what makes them such a good team' style admiration,  and then when watching Melbourne, toddle off to the kitchen find a torch, a knife and some wetwipes and perform a DIY lobotomy.

Edited July 17, 20222 yr by Engorged Onion

Streaky would be the best way to describe that win. We turned on enough devastating bursts to put enough distance on them. However, you couldn't call that a four quarter performance by any stretch of the imagination.

I could not put into words how stoked I was for Kozzie to get that bag. The bloke is a constant ball of defensive pressure and harassment. His effort is sensational week after week. Alas, playing as a forward pocket is always tough as the amount of looks you get will always be limited. Today, the ball finally started to drop in his favor and his ability to press his luck, get his hand in and break for speed got him six (he should have gotten seven had Sparrow not cut off that lead of his).

You could tell that he was absolutely wrapt with his game. The crowd were very much behind him and I was delighted to see him have that moment.

Maxy and Dogga have more to give and plenty of rust to shake off. I thought that the ruck would be a natural strength of ours today with Port not playing a specialist ruckman, but it was not to be. Maxy was much better down the line today, but his bailiwick of ruck contests and getting 15 to 16 possies hasn't gotten back to where it should be.

I was also happy with the game Hibbo had. If anyone thinks that this is his last year, I'd say that might be something to reconsider. He isn't the power running defender of 2017 these days, but his core strength, ability to read how the ball will drop and knowing when to throw his body into packs could see him play for two more years should Father Time and the injury gods smile on him. 

Lingers was unreal. There was one moment in the game where I saw him run from the half back flank to the half forward flank and take two possessions in our chain of play. The bloke didn't break stride once. This might I add was in 26 degree heat! Unbelievable stuff.

I also think the Tomlinson and Petty conundrum should be solved from next week. Play Tommo in Tomald's spot, and Petty down back. It would be a bloody shame for Tommo to be dropped after what I considered a very solid game. McDonald's spot is largely structural and if Tomlinson can run and make space, I'd put him in there.

We are just doing enough at the moment to get over the line against mid range teams. As far as I am concerned, we don't want to be peaking now. September is the time. We've got much improvement in us for sure, but I am going to stay optimistic!

Edited July 17, 20222 yr by Colin B. Flaubert